Family violence, serious crimes spike despite virus lockdown
Men have been revealed as the worst offenders for breaching COVID restrictions after more than 6000 fines were issued in three months. It comes as police target 42 youth gangs who are spreading their wings beyond Melbourne to take crime sprees to regional Victoria.
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Police dished out more than 6000 fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions in just three months, amid a record surge in crime in Victoria.
A total of 5474 individuals committed breaches between March and June, with men responsible for three in four of all breaches and offenders’ average age being 29.5.
One in ten offenders breached restrictions more than once with almost a third of offences occurring between midnight and 6am.
The Corangamite and Colac-Otway region recorded the highest rate of breaches for any holiday destination and one in five of all offences occurred over the Easter long weekend.
And 58 per cent of offences occured on the street or footpath, while another 14 per cent was in a house or apartment.
Crime unexpectedly surged by 5.6 per cent in the past year, with a total of 407,768 criminal incidents recorded in the year to June 30.
This is the highest amount ever recorded by the Crime Statistics Agency since it began in 2004.
Family violence incidents also reached a record high, up 6.7 per cent with 88,214 incidents.
Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said the crime rise was “a surprise” given the restriction of movement enforced throughout the pandemic.
He predicted crime rates would fall in the near future, citing a lag between when a crime is committed and recorded in the system.
Street gangs have become a huge focus for police statewide amid the rise in serious and violent crime.
Operation Alliance was launched by police this week to crackdown on youth gangs responsible for violent crimes including home invasions, carjackings, assaults and robberies.
Mr Nugent said police are targeting 42 streets gangs, many of which have began committing crime sprees in regional Victoria.
Previously most were based in Melbourne and would offend in their own territory.
Mr Nugent said: “These gangs have started to move outside of local areas.”
“They are everywhere – from Dandenong to Sunshine, Werribee to Collingwood.
“Some might start in Sunshine, that is where the nucleus is located, and they can do offending from Knox to Dandenong to Darebin.”
Mr Nugent linked street gangs to the rise in high-harm crimes including robberies, up 12.8 per cent.
Shockingly more than half of all robbery offenders processed by police in the past year were aged 10 – 17.
The data showed 1710 of the 3063 robbery offenders were in that age group.
Police also recorded 279 home invasions, 317 carjackings, 105 carjacking attempts, and 20,260 car thefts.
The data also showed a 5.4 per cent rise in burglaries, with almost 41,000 recorded in the year.
There were a total of 4333 aggravated burglaries, meaning the victim was home or the offender was armed.
There were also 12, 946 commercial burglaries, which have spiked during the statewide shutdown of non-essential businesses.
CRIME SPIKES DESPITE VIRUS LOCKDOWN
Crime has reached a record high in Victoria despite the state’s harsh coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
There were 407,768 criminal incidents this year compared to 385,963 in the same period last year, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.
The number of unique alleged offenders also jumped by 7.4 per cent, from 81,355 last year to 87,362 this year.
The five local government areas with the highest criminal incidents rates were Melbourne, Latrobe, Yarra, Mildura and Greater Shepparton.
Theft, cultivate or manufacture drugs and breaches of orders were among the criminal incidents to have surged.
Mr Nugent said the rise in crime during the pandemic was “a surprise”.
However he said there was a lag between when a crime occurs and when it was recorded in the system.
Mr Nugent expected a future drop in crime based on the reduction in opportunistic offending under COVID-19 restrictions, including curfews.
A total of 78,078 reports of breaches of the Chief Health Officer’s directions were made to the Police Assistance Line in the year to June 30.
FAMILY VIOLENCE UP IN HOTSPOT AREAS
Some of the local government areas hardest hit by the pandemic have recorded spikes in domestic violence incidents, including Casey up 8.4 per cent, Hume up 10.5 per cent, Whittlesea up 6.1 per cent.
There has been an increase in domestic violence reports involving children, mostly as victims but also as perpetrators.
Mr Nugent said there was also a rise in “first time reporting” likely due to increased pressures in the home due to lockdown.
Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said high harm crimes will only get worse with Victoria’s economic downturn and increased unemployment.
“The unexpected spike in high impact, high harm crimes across Victoria should be a wakeup call and a sign of more to come as the economic fallout of Daniel Andrews’ botched COVID-19 response continues,” he said.
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